Page 33 of Leave Me (Shift MC #1)

Chapter thirty-two

Riley

W atching the fight through the curtain of water, my heart stuck in my throat, I hadn’t thought about what would happen if Fowler lost. Failure wasn’t an option. He would prevail and come back to me.

When Fowler tricked the bears into injuring each other, I pumped my fist and held back a cheer. The bears undoubtedly knew where I was, but I didn’t need to draw attention to myself or distract Fowler.

Something inside of me ripped apart when my man was pinned down, the bear’s bloody face and teeth ready to strike. My bones snapped and popped as if someone had a voodoo doll of me and was systematically breaking every one.

Falling to the wet stone at my feet, I blinked past the pain to find paws. They were an off-white color, with black claws gripping the slanted stone surface.

What. The actual. Fuck?

Pushing up to sitting, I felt my legs bend under me in a way they never had before. As a human, I’d look like a frog, but it felt instinctual. Turning my body, I felt a weight tugging at the spot I’d expect my tailbone to be, and I suddenly understood why it was called that.

Wrapped around my leg was a bushy tail. In the filtered light, I could see it was the same color as my paws on the underside, a tawny color in the middle, with dark grey and black hairs along the top.

I was a wolf!

A bear roared in pain, and I peered through the water again to find the fight had gone on.

My hearing and eyesight were even stronger, though I couldn’t hear as well over the waterfall, but I could see every detail when Ricky and Fowler’s wolves subdued one bear, only for the other to knock a larger wolf down.

Remembering that Clark Finley was joining Ricky in the pursuit of the two bears, I knew it had to be him. He yelped in pain and curled into himself on the shore beside the pond, and I wanted to help.

Before I could try swimming in a body I didn’t fully understand, the voice inside of me said to wait. It told me I needed to listen to Fowler, to my Alpha, and stay hidden.

A voice in my head, which I’d heard all my life, made more sense when I realized it was my inner wolf.

Pacing the rock, I was glad to see the wolves get the upper hand, but I didn’t let myself relax until Ricky was following the defeated bears away, and I saw Mr. Finley get up to rub against Fowler.

A tiny spark of jealousy appeared and fizzled out when Fowler lifted his head to howl.

Mr. Finley was the acting Alpha, so he should have been the one to acknowledge they’d won.

His gesture to Fowler, rubbing his neck, and then Fowler making the call to the pack? It all told me what I’d always known.

Fowler was born to be the King Pack Alpha.

Before I had time to process the momentous shift from one Alpha to another, Fowler was swimming toward me, shifting halfway across the water. I couldn’t see him below the shoulders, so I had to hope my hypothesis about his shift was correct.

If Fowler needed to endure surgeries all over again, I’d be there for him in whatever way he needed.

Scrabbling up the rocks behind the far side of the falls, Fowler stepped onto the rock beside me and froze.

Letting out a sound that would have been a whimper in human form, but was more a whine as a wolf, I sat back to let him take me in. Was I so different that he wouldn’t recognize me? Did my mate know it was me?

Mate? I questioned my wolf.

Mate.

Mine.

My wolf confirmed, and I found his short answers reassuring. He knew only instinct and was sure in his conviction that Fowler was ours.

“Ri-Riley?” Fowler stuttered, crouching down to look me in the eye. I had no clue if I was bigger than a non-shifter wolf, but I was eye-to-eye with Fowler in this form.

Nodding felt odd, so I went down on my belly and crawled close enough for him to touch me. He let me sniff his hand, and I licked him experimentally. Fowler tasted like pond water and sweat, but also like the man I couldn’t get enough of.

Chuckling at my wolfy tongue bath, Fowler ran his hand along my furry neck to scratch between my ears. “You’re beautiful.”

Chuffing, which felt like a mix of satisfaction and pleasure, I tilted my head to give him better access. He ran his hands along my spine, and through his touch, I could tell I was getting ready for another heat wave. My tail wagged, and Fowler laughed again.

“I’ve never fucked in my wolf form, Ri. I’ll do it if you need me to, but…

not sure how that would even work.” Fowler stood and rubbed his beard, looking down at me with calculating eyes.

I wondered if mine were gold like his or a different color.

“Plus, we need to check on Uncle Clark. Do you think you can shift back?”

Looking up at him in confusion, I tried to convey with my eyes that I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t exactly been in charge when I shifted during the fight. What if I were stuck as a wolf? I couldn’t be a writer in a wolf’s body!

Fowler seemed to understand because he crouched down again. “Imagine your human body. Think about your muscles and bones, how your skin feels when it’s not so furry. Picture it and tell your wolf to shift back.”

It took a minute for my mind to calm down from the panic, but my wolf wanted to do what the Alpha told us to, and I felt the shift come over me slowly, then my human body was back in a blink.

Shifting back didn’t hurt as much as becoming a wolf. I felt better than I had in days, as if the shift had cleared the aches and pains from my heat and our run through the forest. Still, I felt an insistent need to have Fowler fill me.

“Welcome back, Ri.” Fowler grinned at me, and I threw myself in his arms, kissing his face until our mouths met in a kiss.

“I’m a wolf!” I exclaimed between kisses. “I can shift!”

“I saw that,” Fowler laughed, but stopped my rutting against him. Our naked bodies rubbing together were getting both of us horny. “And I can’t wait to claim you…”

“Hey, Alpha King,” Ricky’s voice called out, and I heard the sarcasm in his words. What a brat.

Rolling me so he could sit up and look out across the pond, we found Ricky, bracing Mr. Finley with an arm around his shoulders. They were both naked, but I ignored their bits in favor of checking to make sure they were in one piece.

Fowler called out with a growl, “Bears gone?” He was not going to be happy if Ricky was here and the bears were still at large.

“Yep,” Ricky replied with a grin. “Sent Rel to follow them to their bikes.”

“You good, Uncle Clark?” Fowler asked, seeing his body showed no sign of the injury to his wolf, but I assumed he’d still need rest after that fight. He wasn’t as young as the rest of us.

“I’ll heal, Alpha,” he croaked. I couldn’t tell whether the crack in his voice was from pain or emotion, but I felt Fowler tense beside me. “We’ll talk about how to approach the Lakeland Bears when you and Riley reemerge.”

Well, it was confirmed. Everyone in the pack knew I was horny for Fowler.

“Enjoy the rest of your heat,” Ricky called out, and I remembered he was an omega. I’d have to ask him a few questions when we rejoined society.

The men shifted and padded off down the mountain, leaving Fowler and me alone. The waterfall poured around us, creating a Zen space where before I’d felt fear. Nothing was in our way, and I knew exactly what I needed from him.

It was time to claim my Alpha.